Paths
I shall tread, another year,
Ways I walked with Grief,
Past the dry, ungarnered ear
And the brittle leaf.
I shall stand, a year apart,
Wondering, and shy,
Thinking, “Here she broke her heart;
Here she pled to die.”
I shall hear the pheasants call,
And the raucous geese;
Down these ways, another Fall,
I shall walk with Peace.
But the pretty path I trod
Hand-in-hand with Love,—
Underfoot, the nascent sod,
Brave young boughs above,
And the stripes of ribbon grass
By the curling way—
I shall never dare to pass
To my dying day.
Credit
From Enough Rope (Boni & Liveright, 1926) by Dorothy Parker. This poem is in the public domain.
Date Published
02/02/1926